Argus expands coverage of California, US renewables trading

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading energy and commodity price reporting agency Argus has launched a series of new market assessments for renewable energy certificates (RECs) and carbon markets in California, the western US and elsewhere.

Argus' expanded California coverage includes California renewable energy certificates and enhancements to its coverage of California carbon allowances. Expanded California carbon coverage includes daily volume-weighted average data for December 2013 delivery. Other additions include Green-e voluntary RECs for the Western Electricity Co-ordinating Council area, plus Maryland Tier 1 and Ohio's in-state, non-solar assessments.

The new data will be published in Argus Air Daily, which already offers the most extensive renewable energy market price data, of any publisher, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, plus the national Green-e voluntary market.

The new California and additional Green-e instruments will make available key market data for power generators in California and throughout the western US. Last month, Argus began publishing carbon-adjusted marginal heat rates, spark spreads and the carbon cost per MWh of running power plants at the SP-15 power zone in southern California during peak times.

In other North American carbon markets, Argus already publishes volume-weighted average indexes for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative states, as well as price assessments for Alberta Carbon Offsets and carbon offsets issued by the Climate Action Reserve.

"The increased trading and interest in North American renewables markets has been dramatic," Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said. "We are happy to add these assessments and increase transparency for these growing markets."

Argus prices are used globally in indexation and are the industry reference for North American emissions market activity. In the US, Argus is the primary index for Acid Rain (SO2) allowances and is used extensively in NOx and CO2 allowance trading, term contract and derivative market transactions.

About ArgusArgus Media is a leading provider of price assessments, business intelligence, market data, consultancy and conferences on the global crude, oil products, natural gas, electricity, coal, emissions, bioenergy, fertilizer and transportation industries. Argus energy and fertilizer prices are widely used by leading companies, governments and international agencies as benchmarks in supply contracts, risk management and planning.

Argus is headquartered in London and has more than 400 staff in offices in Houston, Washington, New York, Portland, Calgary, Santiago, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney, Dubai, Moscow, Astana, Kiev, Porto, Brussels, Johannesburg and other key centres of the energy industry. Argus was founded in 1970 and is a privately held UK-registered company.